The Macallan Gold

Tasting notes:
The nose on this dram is very fine, though perhaps short of rich.  I’ll take that trade-off, though.  Notes of high school wood shop, of art class on the day the class is doing flower petal collages, and of a canvas duffel bag.  No wait, that last one should be a denier nylon backpack filled with votive candles from a Jesuit missionary on a dry run for future drug smugglers.  There are also notes of switchgrass set aside for biofuel.  Leather satchel, Satchel Paige, page turner, turning the page, coming of age, no age statement.
     The mouthfeel is a bit watery, but there are many spice notes there:  spicy punch, mace, masala, nutmeg, a hint of cinnamon, allspice, Chinese five spice, and Subtle Spice, the Spice Girl who never was.  The mouth disappears as quickly as lighter fluid that misses the lighter.  But the finish is really nice without being imposing or dominant.  It’s like a team of 113 lb. wrestlers squeezing into an elevator: they’re lightweight, but they pack a punch.  Now imagine their cabled forearms shoplifting spices to be huffed for diuretic purposes, and you have an idea of the finish.
     Give it some time, and it opens up nicely.  We imagined it would do very well as a destination whisky–that is, the kind of whisky you select as your favorite and then order wherever you go.

Rating: